(670 The Score) White Sox closer Liam Hendriks' hope is that his club can find the correct amount of pressure to put on itself in the second half of the season.
Ahead of the All-Star break while the White Sox were struggling, Hendriks admitted the team was complacent early on in the season. As he views it, the White Sox then pressed too much as their struggles prolonged.
Hendriks now is excited to see if the White Sox can find their groove as they host the Guardians on Friday evening to open up the second half. The White Sox (46-46) trail the AL Central-leading Twins by three games after winning three of four games in Minnesota just before the break.
"We weathered the storm, we battled back," Hendriks said in an interview with Matt Spiegel and Gabe Ramirez on 670 The Score on Friday afternoon. "We got to be a .500 team, and now we can hopefully cash in those checks that we didn't quite cash in earlier in the year.
"Once you get that ah-ha moment, it clicks and you're able to kind of run with it.
"You want to put the pressure on yourself, but you also don't want to put too much on there. Because that's what we did in the middle part of it. We came out in April and May complacent, in June we put too much pressure on ourselves and in July, I think we've had a decent month so far."
As for himself, Hendriks relies on his wife, Kristi, to help him find the proper balance in putting pressure on himself to perform.
"She's able to pick up those things – she'll be able to tell me when I'm getting a little bit too big-headed," said Hendriks, an All-Star with a 2.35 ERA this season. "She'll be able to tell me when I'm a little bit too down on the ground and I've actually done better than I think. She's definitely the strong arm behind everything I'm able to do on the field.
"She's able to recognize a lot of the things and pick me up when I need it."
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